Thursday, March 8, 2007

I just watched Chris Simon lay one out on an Ryan Hollweg, with a baseball swing of his stick to the face. Hollweg seems like he'll live, but this one looks worse than the Marty McSorley hit job on Donald Brashear a few years back.

Having watched the posted video of a CBC interview with Steve Moore on Mirtle's site, I wonder why Simon likely won't get suspended for the rest of the season for this (usually, it takes some sort of massive brain trauma to warrant much attention). As with the Bertuzzi incident, people are always willing to chalk up on-ice aggravated assault to the "heat of the moment" and give the assailant the benefit of the doubt. I see nothing of the sort in either attack, as is often the case in serious cases like this. (Obviously, I'm not a big fan of the length of Bertuzzi's suspension, either, nor his ultimately pointless inclusion on the Canadian Olympic Team. He's also an idiot.)It's high time that the league suspends a player based on his intent to injure, and not just severity of the injury.

Bertuzzi is still one of the premier power-forwards in the league. He will flourish when he gets healthy, it bugs me that the Moore incident is still gettin played. Tie domi did much worst things in his career, not to even speak of Ted Green, Tiger Williams... Let it be, Bertuzzi is a great player and should be an automatic for Team Canada in 2010. There is no one like him in the league when it comes to combinin power, skill and aggression. -Mr Hockey-

You're point is that Domi was worse? That's not exactly winning the argument.

Bertuzzi stopped playing hockey, stalked and then cold-cocked Moore from behind, breaking his neck with one punch. I think it's fair for me to forever hold it against the guy. (I also think he's overrated).

In the meantime, I've seen a lot "Moore is greedy" sentiment, especially from Canucks fans.

How many Canucks fans are going to come out saying that Ryan Hollweg deserves what he got for boarding Simon in the seconds before this? I nominate "zero", because the sort of Canucks fans who defend Bertuzzi are also mouthbreathing hypocrites one hundred percent of the time.

Also, look at where Simon's hands are on his stick, and the amount of upper-body motion. I'd argue that he bunts Hollweg, although it's not a very good bunt as he puts too much on it. After he serves his one-game suspension and pays his thirty-cent fine, he should be sent back to triple-A.

It's a rare attempt to injure in the NHL that actually makes me exclaim out loud in disgust, but that was one of them. I mean, come on. If Simon isn't suspended for the rest of the season, there's simply no justice in the NHL. What fucking thuggery.

I'm going to go ahead and say it's clean because I am fucking tired of having to try and decipher which one of the myriad of fucked up hits is "clean" and which isn't.

Hockey fans are ALL hypocrites as far as I’m concerned.

You either allow this shit to go on or you don’t, but what you definitely shouldn’t do is rationalize away half the dirty shit that goes on and implement half measures and arbitrary rulings on the other half dubbed as “dirty” hits. This just drags the entire game through the mud and makes us look like raving maniacs.

So fuck it, it’s all clean in my mind from now on. Go ahead and start teeing off boys, its all "clean" now!

The problem I have with the Bertuzzi hit is not so much the hit itself (although it's ugly), but that he stayed on the ice while his team did a line change, chased after him, and the puck was no where near the play. If he was trying to strip the puck from Moore, that's completely different.

Same as in the situation in the above clip, the puck was on the other side of the ice. These hits had nothing to do with regaining posession of the puck. That's why they're cheap shots. They're uncalled for.

I totally agree that Bertuzzi should be suspended until Moore is back on the ice under these circumstances.

I'm going to go ahead and say it's clean because I am fucking tired of having to try and decipher which one of the myriad of fucked up hits is "clean" and which isn't.

There's borderline hits (ie. a player turns in the corner as another player comes in to finish his check) that are usually the result of the speed of the play and the fact that circumstances can change dramatically from the moment a player commits to a hit and the moment when he arrives at his target. But the Bertuzzi attack on Moore, the McSorley clubbing of Brashear, Janssen's long distance journey to blindside Kaberle and this latest atrocity don't exactly exist in a grey area. If you can't tell the difference between a late hit and a deliberate assault, well, perhaps sir would be more comfortable watching a different sport? UFC, perhaps?

There have been like, 8 questionable hits in as many weeks, most weren't even penalized, people just write them off, "that's hockey!"... well okay, then don't be surprised when some goon bashes someone upside the head with his stick.

You let this shit slide, and the the players will be the ones to dole out the justice.

Yeah, I can't get too excited by most of the plays that have been considered worthy of suspension lately. I mean I think a major penalty and a game would have been plenty for Janssen.

But this was completely different. To me this had the same feel to it as the incident with the NFL player stomping his opponents head. I'm not sure how to define "the line" in physical sports, but I just know that this was way over it.

A suspension for the rest of the year plus playoffs would see appropriate methinks.

I thought the Bertuzzi suspension was about right, though the complexities of the lockout year and the involvement of the IIHF make it hard to use as a precedent. This incident should be regarded as worse because it's in the interest of the league to impose especially harsh penalties for use of the stick to injure. I honestly don't even know what "punish the intent!" means, though it sounds nice. They can just go ahead and punish the illegal act and I'll be happy.

People say homerun but I'd say it was more like a slap bunt. The interesting thing about this hit is that it's between two parties that almost everybody hates. Chris Simon and Ryan Hollweg? Say what you will about borderline-retard Todd B. but he's actually an asset. Neither of these mooks rate at all on the Becket scale. Therefore Chris Simon will get the season and the playoffs. Ryan Hollweg, who's a dirty rat despite almost dying from a hit from behind, will continue to clobber dudes from behind. Acunamatada

Chris Simon certainly overreacted and diserves his suspension but the announcer saying that it was a clean hit doesn't know what he is talking about. Hitting from behind is illegal, so is boarding and charging as Hollweg's feet left the ground.